With over 20 years of experience covering the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop. Dale can also be heard on the Steelers radio network pre-game show on WDVE-FM game days and Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. on ESPN 970-AM and WDVE during the season as a host of the Antonio Brown Show. Follow him on Twitter at @dlolleyor

20 comments:

I agree. This game should on paper be a bye week. But the jets do have some talent here and there, and I've yet to see Tomlin get his team prepared for a team they should best easily. We will see what the coaching staff is made of this week. You got a few great wins over some good teams. Can you keep up that intensity while playing an inferior opponent? I've loved the killer instinct they've had the last few weeks on both sides of the ball. The jets will be up for this game, they've got nothing to lose and a coach who has to afraid of losing his job. Will our boys meet the intensity?

when we played poor teams in baseball (college) we used to shorten the game to say 5 innings and set our goal to be a blowout. then start over as if it were 0-0 in the sixth and try to win a 4 inning game. steelers need to have the same mindset - blow them out by the end of the 1st half.

On the road, Steelers need to establish their run game. Being too pass happy on the road will result in sacks and turnovers. As long as they win the turnover battle against Jets, Steelers will win with rather ease. This Steelers team is kind of similar to 2005 Bengals, high octane offense with an opportunist defense.

Loosing to inferior teams is the past and I truly don't see them letting up.

The browns are no joke and the Rat birds are always tough, we split with both of them. The Tampa loss, well that sucked but it was still early in the season..I think/hope that they learned their lesson from that one.

Dale, Tomlin indicated that Polamalu, Shazier and Thomas are all out for Sunday's game. Does this mean that Ike is back? The Steelers could use him against Harvin.

I like the concern here that just because the Jets have only won a game that it won’t be an easy game, we’ve been there too many times in the last few seasons. I think that Tomlin is probably concerned about complacency, hence his praise for the Jets and not taking them lightly. It was easy to get up for Baltimore, this game will require Tomlin to be the motivator.

- Why is Thomas getting more snaps over Tuitt? Would rather see McCullers spell McClendon, and let Tuitt spell CamH. and Brett.

- KR and starting field position is killing us. Justin Brown was a return man why not give him a shot along with giving him a helmet over Lance Moore. Moore isn't providing much so let the young guy get some experience.

- If ain't broke don't fix it.......but how about giving Dri a chance with a few screens. This week against NYJ could provide the perfect opportunity.

- Against IND we saw more VWilliams over Spence (and he performed well). Sunday night we saw more Spence. What's your thoughts?

- #92 looks great and he looks to just start getting his legs. Him and #99 are playing in sync and causing havoc. Would have been nice to have him here last year to tutor Jarvis his rookie year.

Shazier's injuries would normally have me a little skeptical but thinking back to DeCastro missing his entire rookie season due to injury has me feeling a little more optimistic. Also Spence and Williams have both improved their play since the pre-season.

Agreed that Brad Wing is hurting the team, occasional bad kicks and missed holds are awful but it's his distance inconsistency that is giving me Mitch Berger flashbacks. I don't know what the solution is, hopefully he improves.

You're scarred because the Steelers loose to inferior teams? Numbers don't play that out - grammar aside.

They are 36-16 against "inferior" teams in the Tomlin era. That would be against teams with losing records at the time they played.

Thomas is getting snaps over Tuitt because, in my opinion. John Mitchell just doesn't like to rush rookie defensive linemen. Doesn't want them overexposed. And Thomas has been OK the past few games. Tuitt has more upside and should be playing more in my opinion.

The linebacker rotation is a matchup issue. When they want Timmons to cover, they bring in Vince Williams.

No, Justin Brown isn't the cure at kick return. It's not the returners. It's the blockers, in my opinion. They're not getting it done.

I wouldn't have a problem with Gradkowski holding. Don't know if he's done much of it, though. And teams like to use the punter because those guys can practice it on their own while the rest of the team works on offense and defense.

Who can forget Mitch Berger punting with two bad hamstrings vs. the Giants? Last couple of times Steelers have been to the Super Bowl, they've had less than ideal punters. Thus, if Wing continues to be inconsistent, a seventh title is inevitable.

(Well, as long as they don't trade a draft pick for one, I'm happy.)

The Steelers haven't had some bad losses to bad teams the last few seasons?

Let’s see, Oakland, Tennessee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, I’d say there’s plenty of recent past precedent. The next two weeks will go a long way to proving whether the Steelers are maturing into a playoff caliber team or not.

Theosa brought up an interesting point, run the ball. The Steelers are riding Ben’s hot arm in the current streak, but as the weather gets colder, it behooves them to run the ball. Why? The ball gets heavier and more slippery in the cold weather. Also a balanced attacked is harder to defend. Yes, they can still pass the ball and yes play the hot hand, but to have Bell really gives the Steelers a lot of options.

That cold weather stuff bother Brady or Aaron Rodgers? That's something of a myth.Will they need to run it at some point? Yes. But it's not like they're running it poorly. Sunday was the first game in which they've had a tough time running it. And many of those passes to Bell are just as good as runs and will be there anytime they want them because he's an impossible matchup for any linebacker in the league.

Yes, the Steelers lost to some bad teams in the last couple of years. But in seasons in which they weren't a good team. How many good or above average teams were counting the Steelers as a bad loss those seasons?

The fact remains, they win a lot more against bad teams than they lose.

My only worry about the Jets game is facing Michael Vick. I know he isn't what he used to be but we've had problems with running quarterbacks when they escape our pressure. He's faster than most running QB's and we need to keep him bottled up and hit him often. He can be rattled by being hit.

I hear what you're saying Dale, but I believe the cold weather does have an impact, maybe not for the "great ones" but for those that use their fingers for feeling. And yes I could probably google all day and it wouldn't resolve the debate:

http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/?p=60

However, the key findings are consistent:

1. In cold weather cities, fewer points per game are scored late in the regular season, when it is colder than the warmer months of the regular season.